Listen to new tunes from Beirut and Helado Negro (Show Saturday in St. Paul!)

This Saturday at the Palace Theater in St. Paul you can see two artists who are exploring different corners of melancholy pop music. Opening the night will be songwriter Helado Negro, who you can check out above via the minimalist soul of “Running,” which captures the smart, yearning, melodic pop music he has been making over the last few years. He has a new album This Is How You Smile coming out March 8th on the always amazing RVNG Intl. label, and it’s already getting lots of buzz.

Beirut (aka Zach Condon) is one of those bands that have been around forever (I remember seeing their first Twin Cities show at the Triple Rock in late aughts..) but it seems like they have paced themselves enough to not have ever burned out their audience. Their horn- and uke-driven Balken folk has graced our stereos every few years over the last decade, most recently with Gallipoli, which dropped earlier this month. If you’ve followed Condon’s career, you’ll recognize all the high points on his new LP. If you’re new to him, start with the title track from the new LP above and work your way back towards his amazing debut Gulag Orkestar.

6pm doors, 8pm show for this one Saturday (2/23) at the Palace. More info and tickets HERE.